DCN responds to Public Accounts Committee report into council finances

Commenting on the Public Accounts Committee report into local council finances during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cllr John Fuller OBE, Chair of the District Councils Network said:

“District Councils have been the hardest hit of any sort of local authority in comparison to their size. This is especially true in cathedral cities, new towns and coastal communities where tourism, retail and leisure incomes have been decimated whilst demands for homelessness and family support have been greatest.

“The government must ensure the recovery from the pandemic starts with district councils, who are at the heart of local communities, who deliver the doorstep issues and who control the building blocks of recovery.   A multiyear settlement must be the first step alongside longer term financial sustainability and buoyancy which must flow from certainty around social care and business rates reforms.”

DCN provided evidence to the Committee’s Inquiry, and our submission is published within the Committee’s Report: COVID-19: Local government finance Fourth Report of Session 2021–22.

Contact: District Councils’ Network press office 020 7664 3333